| rodelaet |
| (Post Laureate) |
| 08/15/08 04:04 PM |
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Binocular Icon 31 : M8, The Lagoon Nebula.
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M8 : The Lagoon Nebula.
One of the highlights of the Sagittarius Milky Way is the Lagoon Nebula. On a dark summer night, M8 can be seen with the unaided eye as a small bright patch in the Southern Milky Way. M8 is even brighter than the famous Orion Nebula. The view with a pair of binoculars is spectacular. M8 appears as an elongated glowing cloud of gas, divided by a ‘dark’ river, running from NE to SW. The eastern part of the nebula contains the open cluster NGC 6530. About a dozen stars can be counted with 15x70 bino’s. The western part of the nebula harbours only a few bright stars, together with a small bright patch of light, the Hourglass Nebula. This small patch looks like an out of focus star. It is the brightest feature of the Lagoon. Larger telescopes will reveal its true shape. But the Lagoon has more treasures to offer as time goes by. The patient observer will be rewarded with the view of fainter nebulous extensions and delicate curls of dark lanes. All together, the Lagoon Nebula is a very complex diffuse body at a distant of 5200 l-y.
The Lagoon is accompanied by a few other objects. At one and a half degree NNE of M8, there is M20, the Trifid Nebula. A40’ more to the north, the subtle glow of the open cluster M21 borders the edge of the field of view. At 1° SE of M8, I suspected the presence of globular cluster NGC 6544.
Site : Andratx, Mallorca, Spain ( 39° N )
Date : July 27, 2008
Time : around 23.00UT
Binoculars : TS 15x70 Marine
FOV: 4.4°
Filter : none
Mount : Trico Machine Sky Window
Seeing : 3/5
Transp. : 4/5
Sky brightness : 21.08 magnitudes per square arc second near zenith (SQM reading).
Nelm : 6.5
Sketch Orientation : N up, W right.
Digital sketch made with Corel Paint Shop Pro X2, based on a raw pencil sketch.
(Note: if the sketch does look too dark on your monitor, try to darken the room.)
| xfile101 |
| (scholastic sledgehammer) |
| 08/15/08 05:00 PM |
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Re: Binocular Icon 31 : M8, The Lagoon Nebula.
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Now if that isn't beautiful, I don't know the meaning of the word!!
This is stunning, Rony, I envy your artwork to the point of criminality, these sketches are better than astrophotos I tell ya! Thanks for sharing!
| rolandlinda3 |
| (Carpal Tunnel) |
| 08/15/08 05:06 PM |
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Re: Binocular Icon 31 : M8, The Lagoon Nebula.
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Rony, that is just plain beautiful, and with a binoculars with the Window, which I know is a help. My Fuji's are being checked for a problem and my eyes are challenged, but I will use your sketch as a benchmark. Beautiful. Roland
| frank5817 |
| (Post Laureate) |
| 08/15/08 07:26 PM |
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Re: Binocular Icon 31 : M8, The Lagoon Nebula.
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Rony,
I can not get use to how stunning these binocular sketches of yours are.
M-8 is just superb in this binocular sketch. This is such a beautiful part of the heavens and you sketch it like no other. 
Frank
| GlennLeDrew |
| (Pooh-Bah) |
| 08/15/08 07:51 PM |
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Re: Binocular Icon 31 : M8, The Lagoon Nebula.
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Beautiful!
I see you've added four other subtle nebulous patches to the north and east of M8. Are they milky way "condensations", or perhaps discrete DSO's? Have you tried to identify them?
| NerfMonkey |
| (sage) |
| 08/15/08 08:36 PM |
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Re: Binocular Icon 31 : M8, The Lagoon Nebula.
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Awesome sketch dude! That's more detail than I saw on the two separate occasions I viewed it using a 12" scope. Keep them coming. I love the really faint blobs of cloudy patches scattered throughout the FOV too; I've never seen that many nebulae (or other objects for that matter) in one field.
| Acheron |
| (scholastic sledgehammer) |
| 08/16/08 11:14 AM |
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Re: Binocular Icon 31 : M8, The Lagoon Nebula.
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aaaaa, this is nice!
| rodelaet |
| (Post Laureate) |
| 08/16/08 03:26 PM |
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Re: Binocular Icon 31 : M8, The Lagoon Nebula.
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Thank guys, for the kind words on my observation.
@ Glenn : I reccon that these brightenings are dense Milky Way star condensations, as I can't find any suitable DSO' candidates.
| Special Ed |
| (Post Laureate) |
| 08/17/08 03:32 PM |
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Re: Binocular Icon 31 : M8, The Lagoon Nebula.
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Rony, one of your best.
| rodelaet |
| (Post Laureate) |
| 08/18/08 06:18 PM |
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Re: Binocular Icon 31 : M8, The Lagoon Nebula.
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Michael,
Thank you very much!
Much credit goes to the object, rather than to the sketcher. It is one of the brightest deep-sky objects and it has a respectable angular size, making it a very suitable target for a pair of bino's.
| Nick Lloyd |
| (He asked for it) |
| 08/18/08 06:24 PM |
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Re: Binocular Icon 31 : M8, The Lagoon Nebula.
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A question regarding the binocular used... what is TS 15x70 Marine?
| CarlosEH |
| (Post Laureate) |
| 08/18/08 08:27 PM |
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Re: Binocular Icon 31 : M8, The Lagoon Nebula.
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Rony,
A beautifully executed observation of the Lagoon Nebula (M8). You have captured this impressive emission nebula in Sagittarius very nicely. Thank you for sharing it with us all.
Carlos
| rodelaet |
| (Post Laureate) |
| 08/19/08 08:31 AM |
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Re: Binocular Icon 31 : M8, The Lagoon Nebula.
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Hi Nick,
Here is a little report.
These are available in the UK.
These are sold in Germany.
I'm not sure, but chances are that these are all the same make.
Clear skies,
| rodelaet |
| (Post Laureate) |
| 08/19/08 08:33 AM |
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Re: Binocular Icon 31 : M8, The Lagoon Nebula.
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Carlos,
Thank you!
I look forward to your observations.
| Nick Lloyd |
| (He asked for it) |
| 08/19/08 05:21 PM |
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Re: Binocular Icon 31 : M8, The Lagoon Nebula.
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Got it. Thanks!